Heel-holding mechanism



Oct. 19, 1943. J. F. STANDISH 2 ,332,624

HEEL-HOLDING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 28, 1942 of the shoe.

Patented Oct; 19, 1943 HEEL-HOLDING MECHANISM v John F. Standish,Winthrop, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Fleming,-ton, N. .L, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 26, 1942,Serial No. 428,247

14' Claims.

My invention relates to mechanism by which heels may be retained inplace during the application of pressure to-hold them for the receptionof various operations, a particularly useful application of theinvention being in connection withheel-attaching machines.

In apparatus employed to secure a heel to a shoe by fastenings drivenfrom within through the heel-seat into an applied heel, the *work iscustomarily clamped upon its supporting jackto resistdisplacement bythe'inserting force, by a pressure-head or holddown mechanism. In this"mechanism, there is an abutment for engagement with the tread-surfaceof the heel, and a second abutment member, commonly in the form of afork, for engagement with the curved rear --of the heel. It is desiredthat, when the fastenings are inserted, the breast-edge of the heelshall be at a definite point, this usually being determined by thebreast-cut in the o'utsole against which the heel-breast-edge should fitclosely. This positioning action is most commonly left to the operator,who must also locate the heel in the correct transverse relation uponthe heel-seat. The present invention relieves the 1f operator'of thoughtand effort'in connection with the exact positioning of the heellongitudinally I To attain thisend, I combine with a jack, or othersupport for a shoe,'andan applied heel, a carrier, the support andcarrier being relatively movable toward" and from .each

other for the application of the pressure to the supported heel, and anabutment member mounted to move upon the carrier for engagement with therear of the heel, the relative movementfirst establishing contactbetween the abutment member and the heel, and then, only after suchcontact, urging the member forward along the shoebottom. In anillustrated embodiment of the invention, as applied to a heel-attachingmachine, there co-operates with the support a movable pressure-head,upon whichtwo' slides are oppositely movable. One of theseyslidescarries a heel-tread-abutment, and upon the other a rear, fork ispivoted to move freely in. the operation of the machine. This fork is solocated that,'in its movement in contactwith the curved rear of theheel, itwill be retained frictionally Without slipping, and, as pressureis applied to thework, will exert a force having a vertical and ahorizontal component. The first of these urges the heel against theheel-seat, while the second thrusts it toward the breast-cut, or otherchosen point upon the shoe-bottom. 'Ijo prop- 'erly present the fork orrear abutment to the piece 'This firmly supports the work for thereception heel, andto limit the extent of movement which it imparts tosaid heel, it is movable between opposite stops, which may bevariable,both re.- spectively andtogether with theabutment. This is accomplishedin the present instance by mounting the abutment and stops together upona terminal-portion of the carrier-slide, the'stops themselves being inthe form of screws threaded through the terminal-portion. I

In certain heel-attaching machines, as those in which a shoe on a lastis operated upon while supported upon a spindle," the lateral curvatureof the cones of different lasts, and the opposite curvature of right andleft last-cones, causes the heel-seat of the spindled shoe and theheelthereon to occupy difierent lateral positions. My inventioncompensates for this, and permits the fork to accommodate itself tovarying locations of the heel, by mounting said fork upon the holddownor pressure-head for free lateral movement. This, with the pivoted forkabove described, is longitudinally of the pivotal axis.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 shows a particular embodiment of my invention in broken sideelevation, with the pressure-head in its normal position;

Fig. 2 is a detail inside elevation, With the heel-abutments in initialContact with the heel;

Fig. 3, a similar view after clamping pressure has been applied; and

Fig. '4, a rear elevation of, the rear abutment.

I have chosen to illustrate the invention as applied to such'aheel-attaching machine, as is disclosed in the application filed in theUnited States Patent Oflice on December 29, 1941, in. the

name of Francis L. Brandt, and bearing the Serial No. 424,740. 'Upon aframe F, a worksupporting jack J is mounted, this having a tubularspindle It projectingzupwardly and for- Wardly, and arranged to receivea passage through the cone of a last: L within a shoe S, to

whicha heel H' is to be attached. A nut l2 threaded upon the spindle Hi,and a nut :4 surrounding a second spindle l6 infront'of the firstspindle, may be elevated-to force a last-bed- [8 against the crown ofthe last-cone.

of clamping pressure. A nail N, to be inserted through the heel-seat .ofthe-shoe into theheel, is carried upon the upper extremity of a driver20, movable in the spindle It and actuated by a plunger 22 reciprocatingvertically in the frame. To hold the work upon the last-bed-pieceagainstupward displacement under the force of. the

driver, a holddown P is provided, this hayingja head 24 bridged betweenside-rods 26 reciprocating vertically in the frame. In a casing 28,adjustable horizontally upon the head, front and rear carrier-slides 30and 32 are respectively movable. As is customary in this compensatingarrangement, the slides are connected to reciprocate oppositely by apinion 34, rotatable in the casing in mesh with rack-teeth upon the ad-Jacent edges'of the slides. The front slide 30 has mounted upon itslower extremity a plate or abutment 36, for engagement with the tread.-surface of the heel on the spindled shoe. The rear slide 32 carries afork R, with which this invention is particularly concerned. Thetwoslides are biased, as is usual, so the tread-abut,

ment 30 is normally lowered.

Considering now the arrangement of the fork R, the slide 32 has at itslower extremity a terminal 40, which is essentially a portion of it.This terminal fits between the divided sides 42, u of the slide, and iss u d fo cr ent l adjustment by a -.e de ew c n ct n 4, Depending fromthe terminal are spaced lugs 45, in alined portions of which a spindle48 is free to turn. This spindle furnishes a pivot for the fork R, whichhas a body 59 fixed to the spindle :by a SBtrSCIGW 52. Theonposed facesof the arms of the fork are padded with yieldable material 56, whichprevents the arms from slipping upon the curved surface of the heel andmarring the covering. The fork-body has a rear projection 58 and aforward projection 5!), each presenting an upper surface for contactwith a stop, these being furnished, respectively, by screws 62 and 64threaded vertically into the terminal 40 i of theslide 32. Theprojection 51; rests normally against the screw 62. This may result fromthe weight of the fork, but is preferably effected by a. pair oftension-springs .66, 65, joining the projection to the rear of theslide-terminal.

For the particular form of heel H being attached, the general relationof the work and its two stops is established, as desired, by theadjustment of the terminal 40 upon its slide and fixed by theconnectionjfi. The screw 62 is so positioned that, when .the fork islowered in engagement with the rear of the heel, the points of contactwill move downwardly and forwardly.

When the holddown P applies pressure to the work, in preparation for theinsertion of the heel-attaching nail N by the driver 20, the plate 36first engages the tread-surface of the heel. Then, through the gearingconnecting the slides and '32, the fork R is lowered against the rear ofthe :heel, as appears in Fig. 2. The relation which has been establishedbetween the curved rear of the heel and the path through which theheel-engaging portion of the fork may move, is such that said fork willmaintain its engagement without slipping and thus rubbing over theheelcovering. As the fork descends, it will exert upon the heel a forcehaving a vertical and a horizontal component. The former acts with thetreadabutment, after the pressure applied by the two slides is balanced,to hold the heel down upon the heel-seat of a shoe. The horizontalcomponent, before the vertical component has reached a maximum, thruststhe heel forward, so thebreast-edge is against the breast-cut c in theoutsole of the shoe. The extent of theaction in this direction may belimited by the contact of the fork-projection) with the screw 64. Bothcomponents of the clamping force maintain the heel againstrearwarddisplacement. Itis thus flrmly held and in the chosen forwardposition.

In heel-attaching machines of the character illustrated, the spindle 10within the passage in the last L holds the work against bodily lateralmovement. The cones of lasts have different lateral curvatures, and thelasts of a pair may curve oppositely. The location of the work at therear will thus differ. In Fig. 4, it will be noted that there issubstantial clearance between the inner sides of the lugs 46 and theopposed faces of the fork-body 50. The spindle 48 is thus free to shiftlongitudinally through the bores in the lugs. As a consequence of this,when one or the other of the fork-arms engages the side of the heelwhich the operator is holding upon the heel-seat of the shoe, the fork,floating in its mounting, will adjust itself laterally and settle inplace to apply uniform pressure to both sides of the heel.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent oi the United States is:

l. Heel-holding mechanism, comprising a support for "a shoe and appliedheel, a carrier, the support and carrier being relatively movable forthe application of pressure to the supported heel, and an abutmentmember mounted to move upon the carrier for engagement with the rear ofthe heel, the relative movement first establishing contact between theabutment member and the heel and then only after uch contact has beenestabport for a shoe and applied heel, a carrier, the

support and carrier being relatively movable for the application ofpressure to the supported heel, an abutment member mounted to move uponthe carrier for engagement with the rear of the heel, a stop againstwhich the abutment member is normally held, the relative movement firstestablishing contact between the abutment member and the heel and thenurging said abutment member away from the stop, and a stop by which theforward movement of the abutment member is limited.

4. Heel-holding mechanism, comprising a support for a shoe and appliedheel, a carrier, the support and carrier being relatively movable forthe application of pressure to the supported heel, an abutment memberfree to move upon the carrier longitudinally of the shoe-bottom inengagement with the rear of the heel, opposite stops for limiting themovement of the abutment member, and a spring by which the abutmentmember in held normally against one of the stops.

5. Heel-holding mechanism, comprising a sup port for a shoe and appliedheel, a carrier, the support and carrier being relatively movable forthe application of pressure to the supported heel, an abutment membermounted to move upon the carrier for engagement with the rear of theheel, the relative movement first establishing contact between theabutment member and the heel and after such contact urging said abutmentmember forward along the shoe-bottom, opposite stops for limiting themovement of the abutment memher, and means arranged to vary the positionof the abutment member and stops together longitudinally of theshoe-bottom.

6. Heel-holding mechanism, comprising a support for a shoe and appliedheel, a carrier, the support and carrier being relatively movable forthe application of pressure to the supported heel, said carrier beingprovided with a terminal-portion variable in position longitudinally ofthe shoe-bottom, an abutment member mounted to move upon theterminal-portion upon engagement with the rear of the heel, and oppositestops for the abutment member carried by the terminal-portion.

7. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and applied heel, apressure-head movable toward and from the support, two slides movableoppositely in the pressure-head, a heel-treadabutment carried by oneslide, and a rear fork pivoted upon the other slide and free to movethereon longitudinally of the shoe-bottom during the application ofclamping pressure to a heel.

8. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and applied heel, apressure-head movable toward and from the support, two slides movable Ioppositely in the pressure-head, a heel-treadabutment carried by oneslide, and a fork pivoted upon the other slide for engagement with thecurved rear of the heel, the fork in its pivotal movement upon saidother slide in contact with the heel exerting a force having a downwardcomponent toward the heel-seat of the shoe and a forward componentlongitudinally of said shoe.

9. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and applied heel, apressure-head movable toward and from the support, two slides movableoppositely in the pressure-head, a heel-treadabutment carried by oneslide, a rear fork pivoted upon the other slide, and opposite stopslimiting the oscillation of the fork.

10. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and applied heel,a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, two slides movableoppositely in the pressure-head, a heel-treadabutment carried by oneslide, a rear fork pivoted upon the other slide, and stop-screwsthreaded through the slide to receive contact with the fork in itsopposite movement about the pivot.

11. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and applied heel,a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, two slides movableoppositely in the pressure-head, a heel-treadabutment' carried by oneslide, a rear fork pivoted upon the other slide, rear and forward stopslimiting the oscillation of the fork, and a spring interposed betweenthe slide and the fork and urging said fork into normal contact with therear stop.

12. In a heel-attaching machine, a support for a shoe and applied heel,a pressure-head movable toward and from the support, two slides movableoppositely in the pressure-head, one of said slides being provided witha terminal-portion variable in position from front to rear of themachine, a heel-tread-abutment carried by one slide, a

. rear fork pivoted upon the terminal-portion of the other slide, andopposite stop-screws for the fork threaded through the terminal-portion.

13. In a'heel-attaching machine, a jack having a spindle arranged toreceive a passage in the cone of the last within a shoe, and aheel-holddown provided with a fork for engagement with the rear of aheel applied to the heel-seat of the spindled shoe, said fork being freeto move laterally upon the holddown to accommodate itself to differentpositions of the heel-seat of the shoe.

14. In a heel-attaching machine, a jack having a spindle arranged toreceive a passage in the cone of the last within a shoe, and aheel-holddown comprising a carrier and a heel-fork pivoted upon thecarrier and free to move longitudinally of the pivotal axis uponengagement of the fork with a heel applied to the heel-seat of aspindled shoe.

JOHN F. STANDISH.

